Buffalo Wings: The Ultimate Super Bowl Food

by Karen on Friday, February 4, 2011

It's that time of year again, America. Football, beer and expensive commercials. No Super Bowl celebration would be complete without finger lickin' good buffalo wings. Forget every memory of them at Hooters or TGIFridays, good buffalo wings are delicious. I mean, its fried chicken wings covered in tangy buttery hot sauce. And if you haven't learned already, I would give my life for salty crispy chicken skin.

As its name suggests, the dish was invented in Buffalo, New York in 1964 at the Anchor Bar (no, not made from buffalo meat) and it is rumored that the co-owner Theresa Bellissimo invented this dish as a last minute idea for some of her son's guests that were arriving to the restaurant. But now family members are telling different versions of their invention. Like other American classics, such as the Caesar salad, the invention of the buffalo wing is still shrouded in family mystery.

Nowadays, people do a lot of creative stuff with buffalo wings and I'm sure some purists out there are gonna say that the sauce is key to perfect wings, which I can appreciate but don't entirely agree. I think that's where you can have fun, think outside the box and play with ingredients. If I'm gonna get my panties in a bunch over one thing, it's the skin. It is paramount that your chicken wings are crispy all around the outside. Flabby chicken skin here is textural nightmare. Oh, and don't even think about breading your wings!

To have less room for frying-error, I used a recipe that dusted them lightly in cornstarch. This doesn't create a coating, but just crisps up the skin.

In order to take apart your wings, use a sharp knife and cut off the wing tip at the joint. Then make an incision down to the joint in the second crease of the wing. Bend back the bones at the joint until the joint pops apart. Cut all the way through between the joint until completely separated.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven until 360 degrees. Using paper towels, pat the chicken wings dry very very well. In a bowl, mix the corn starch, cayenne and salt together. Sprinkle and lightly dust the cornstarch mixture all over the wings. In batches, fry the wings so that they're not crowding the pot. Fry about 10-12 minutes and remove onto a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Keep the first batch of wings in a 200 degree oven while frying the rest so they don't get cold.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium high heat and add all the sauce ingredients (hot sauces, sugar and vinegar). Toss the fried wings in the sauce until completely coated and serve immediately with some celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.

Well, we won’ t be watching the Superbowl – actually, will the snow be cleared in time? Hope so! 🙂
What we can do though, is attempt these amazing-looking buffalo wings and pretend we’re watching! Oh yeah, we’ll have to use Turkish cheese as well. Not a bad substitute.
Julia

I could totally hug you right now!!! My Mr. Sebastian was just talking about this, asking me what are Buffalo Wings…. having to explain how the spicy goes with the rich and dreamy blue cheese…. OHHHH so glad you posted this recipe.. reminds me of my hard core clubbing days.. and grubbing afterward.

These would, indeed, be perfect for game day. I’m new to your blog and have just finished browsing through most of your earlier entries. I really love the food and recipes you feature here. I’ll definitely be back. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Blessings..Mary